Thursday, July 28, 2016

Ravindra used to stay in Room 61 of Building number 3 at the Naigaon
police quarters. A monthly rent of Rs 230 was deducted from his salary as rent
for the 180-sq ft room. Police constables who were colleagues of Ravindra
Patil, on condition of anonymity, were
quoted as stating that Patil had taken an emergency loan of Rs 70,000 in
2004, and another personal loan of Rs 34,300 in 2007 from the Police
Co-operative Credit Society, Naigaon Police headquarters. As per the records,
he had cleared only Rs 59,013 and still owed Rs 45,287 to the Co-operative
Credit Society. He died in chill penury in 2007 .........

In 1987, Mani
Ratnam directed Nayakan starring Kamal Haasan was a hit. It purportedly
was based on the real-life story of underworld don Varadaraja
Mudaliar, sympathetically depicting the struggle of South Indians living
in Bombay. Be it Nayakan or The Godfather and so many other films, the
thin line to success is the rise of poor in the competitive World. In one
scene, a man would die in a car accident, to save the person who was about to
be married, the hero would ask one of his henchmen to surrender posing as the
‘driver’ – poor can struggle in jail on payment of a few thousands – but not
the rich, even when they commit any crime ! The staple of
traditional Bollywood is the triumph of the underdog against the rich and the
powerful, but in real life, when a hero is handed a punishment for a criminal
offence of homicide, the rich and famous stand behind a drunken
super rich man to slam the underdog.

Away from this melee, is another publicity
stunt. Nothing
will get you as much publicity as claiming your life is in danger. They even
give you Z-level security. But to accuse the Prime Minister of your country of
trying to kill you is a very serious charge, and cannot be kept in the
comfortable confines of rhetoric. It is an accusation and must be acted upon as
such. Sanity must prevail on this person to understand that he is a CM of a
tinyland; not even a National party – and the tall PM certainly has better
things and is actually doing better things, than plotting such cynical
demises. What is not acceptable is for
this to be just another chapter in the "foibles" of Arvind
Kejriwal. He cannot be allowed to get
away with it as another selfie indulgence because this is dynamite.

Back in news is the man who
was driving the jeep used by Bollywood star Salman Khan during an alleged deer
hunt in Rajasthan in 1998 and sticking to his claim that the actor had shot the
animal. The statement by Harish Dulani, who was reported to be
"missing", came two days after the 50-year-old actor was acquitted by
the Rajasthan High Court in two cases related to poaching of Chinkaras in
Jodhpur in 1998. Dulani also maintained that he was not absconding but was only
under fear due to threats. "I stick to the statement I made before the
magistrate 18 years ago that Salman got off the car and shot the deer. I was
not absconding but I was scared due to several threats received by me and my
father," he told NDTV. "Due to fear I went away to my relatives'
place in Jodhpur. We had asked for protection but did not get it. If I had
police protection, I could have given a statement. That was what I always
intended," he added.

The high court had
held that the pellets recovered from the Chinkaras were not fired from Khan's
licensed gun. Dulani, the prosecution's only witness in the poaching cases, was
reported missing since 2002, which weakened the prosecution's case against the
movie star. The driver also said that he has been "punished" for
being Salman's driver. "I have been punished for being Salman's driver. I
am living my life in fear," he said. While arguing the case in the high
court, Khan's lawyer had contended that the actor had been falsely framed in
these cases, merely on the statements of Dulani, the driver of the vehicle,
which was allegedly used in poaching in both these cases. The lawyer argued
that Dulani was never available to them for cross-examination and hence his
statements could not be relied upon in the conviction of Khan. He had also
contended that both the cases have been built on circumstantial evidences and
there was no eye-witness or any material evidence against Salman.

If you still
remember the name in the first name, late Ravindra Patil was - Salman Khan's bodyguard [ it should be officer posted
to accompany him !] , who played a crucial role in the actor's conviction in
the 2002 hit-and-run case. It was Patil who called police after the accident,
and became the complainant against the actor. Patil told the court that
Khan was drunk at the time of the accident. He said he had asked the actor to
drive slowly, but the actor didn't pay heed to his request.” He went missing as per Police records and
years later was found in the Sewri TB hospital. Such was his physical condition
that at first no one recognised him. He was reduced to a pile of bones and
weighed a mere 30 kg. He was diagnosed with a deadly type of TB with
little hope of survival. According to the hospital staff, Patil had
reached the hospital in a pitiable condition and was unable to move or even
speak. Patil had reportedly told the doctors that he was begging on the streets
of Mumbai and had managed to collect Rs 50 to hire a cab to come to the
hospital. He eventually
lost the battle for life in Oct 2007 ~ and that does make a sad reading !!!